If you win the lottery, you can buy all of the listed homes in Greenville and Anderson

The dismal odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot — 1 in 302.5 million — means there are 302.5 million potential number combinations, or a little less than one combination for all 328 million people living in the U.S. (Oct 22)
AP

Playing the lottery is not a retirement strategy,(Photo: Getty Images)

The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated to be $1.6 billion, a record. The odds are about one in 303 million, but those are the same odds as when the jackpot was lower.

And as with any good lottery fantasy, many of these ideas are not strictly possible. Homes would require closing and inspection fees and donating money to the state wouldn't get rid of the gas tax. We're also going to ignore taxes and the major loss you'd get from taking the cash option, which would leave you with $904 million before taxes.

But $1.6 billion is a lot of money and it's a good way to look at what big money can, and can't do.

► You can buy all of the homes listed on Zillow in Greenville and Anderson regional markets and have $500 million left over to hire a housesitter. Or you could buy half of the listed homes in Charleston or 95 percent of the listed homes in Myrtle Beach. Or you could buy all of the listed homes in Columbia, twice.

► You can buy 130 million shares of General Electric stock. Or you could buy Sears with your lottery pocket change, a company whose total shares are worth $42.5 million.

► Make a dent, less than 20 percent, in the debt for the failed V.C. Summer nuclear construction project, a $9 billion effort.

► You could treat 2.2 million people to a nine-Broadway-show season at the Peace Center in Greenville.

► Outspend all of the U.S. House political spending across the nation in the 2018 cycle, barely. OpenSecrets.org lists the total U.S. House spending in the election cycle as $1.4 billion. Total spending in the election is estimated to be a record-breaking $5 billion.

► Fix all of the Hurricane Florence damage in the state. The damage was estimated at $1.2 billion.

► You could zero out the state's gas tax, which is expected to raise as much as $630 million a year.

► You can cover all the South Carolina lottery appropriations, from scholarships to job training assistance programs, for $467 million. Or buy the equivalent of the lottery tickets in the state, for $436 million (fiscal year 2017 figures).

► You could cover the city of Greenville's entire budget for years, it's $200 million this year. The Anderson County budget is also $200 million.